Smart fortwo electric drive
12 June 2012 - this date marks the starting signal for the first real
alternative to the usual refuelling stops. With the launch of the new
smart fortwo electric drive, in future smart customers can enjoy even
more fun at the wheel of an attractively priced vehicle that has the
familiar compact dimensions - as a coupé or a cabriolet. The most
important feature distinguishing it from its siblings with conventional
engines is the fact that it does not produce any emissions on the road.
With its 55kW electric motor the smart fortwo electric drive accelerates
from 0-60 km/h in 4.8 seconds, and with a maximum speed of 125 km/h
driving pleasure is also guaranteed on urban motorways. The 17.6 kWh
battery enables the urban two-seater to travel approximately 145
kilometres in city traffic without producing any local emissions. The
new sale&care model makes opting into electric mobility particularly
attractive: it offers customers an opportunity to buy, finance or lease
the vehicle at an attractive price and to rent the battery for a
monthly fee.
Extensive experience and customer feedback from various electric
mobility projects were integrated in the further development of the
smart fortwo electric drive. Ever since 1998 the smart has been
revolutionising urban mobility like no vehicle before it. Compact,
agile, environmentally friendly and stylish - it has evolved from a
practical small car to a lifestyle product and has long become a
familiar sight on the roads of cities around the world.
From the summer the smart fortwo electric drive will start winning
wide-ranging buyers in more than 30 international countries for its
innovative and forward-looking drive concept.
Dr. Annette Winkler, Head of smart, says "The smart fortwo was designed
for an electric drive right from the start as our customers to date have
already been able to experience for themselves in their daily use of
this vehicle. We have taken their feedback and wishes very seriously.
The new smart fortwo electric drive represents a completely new
dimension of zero-emission driving pleasure at a price that is really
attractive."
The new model is fitted with a 55 kW magneto-electric motor - the first
product from the EM-motive joint venture founded together with Bosch -
ensuring that it is as agile and lively as ever.
With torque of 130 Newton metres it accelerates powerfully from 0 to 60
km/h in 4.8 seconds, and thanks to better acceleration in the higher
speed range it can sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds as it has
much more tractive power than its predecessor.
This makes for speedy driving and overtaking. The battery-electric
two-seater smart fortwo now has a higher top speed of 125 km/h, as well.
That is putting it on a par with the combustion-engined smart - also on
the motorway.
A battery from the joint venture "Deutsche ACCUmotive" with Evonik
Industries is fitted in the new smart fortwo electric drive for the
first time. With capacity of 17.6 kWh the lithium-ion battery enables
145 kilometres of pollutant-free driving fun. In addition to the higher
battery capacity clear improvements have been made to the efficiency of
the drive system, resulting in a greater range. When completely empty it
takes a maximum of seven hours to fully charge the battery at a
household socket or charging station on the electricity systems of most
countries i.e. overnight.
Quick charging in less than one hour
For the feasibility of quick charging it is possible to optionally equip
the car with a quick-charging function. The 22 kW on-board charger
enables a completely empty battery to be fully charged in less than an
hour. A power cable is needed for this which is used to connect the
vehicle to a public quick-charging station or a "wallbox" at home or
work.
smart will offer this in future in cooperation with SPX, one of the
world's leading suppliers of technology solutions in the fields of
energy and automotive as a global installation and service partner, and
with KEBA, a specialist for innovative E-charging infrastructure and
wallboxes. If a customer decides to install a wallbox at home or work
the smart Sales department will contact SPX. SPX will examine the local
conditions, make an individual offer, and after a purchase decision,
arrange for installation of the wallbox from KEBA. The wallbox is
standardised and can of course also be used to charge vehicles from
other manufacturers, for example if there is a mixed fleet.
There are two different types of wallbox: Basic and Connected. Both
variants can be used for the quick charging of a single vehicle, or
several vehicles one after the other. For private customers who want to
charge up quickly and easily at home, a Basic wallbox is the perfect
solution. It provides quick charging up to 22 kW and can be used both
indoors and outdoors. The Connected wallbox also provides internet
connectivity once linked up to the customer's web connection.
Furthermore, the Connectivity Plus system is an ideal solution for fleet
customers. It enables up to 16 Connected wallboxes to be linked up to
the "fleet server". This fleet server then enables several vehicles to
be charged at once, all controlled intelligently and automatically. For
example, certain vehicles can be given priority or a load limitation can
be set. SmartCharging is also possible: economical charging and
charging with green electricity (if the utility company provides the
relevant data). This is financially advantageous to customers as they
always have full control over their charging. The relevant charging
cables are of course also available from SPX.
Attractive introduction to electric mobility
The smart fortwo electric drive makes opting into electric mobility very
attractive with a new marketing concept. With the sale&care model
customers can buy, lease or finance the vehicle at an attractive price
and rent the battery. The rental costs include regular maintenance and,
if necessary, quick battery replacement. smart also has a solution for
all those who want to buy the entire vehicle.
In Germany the price for the vehicle with the sale&care model is
€18,910 inc. VAT for the coupé and €22,000 for the cabrio. As well as
this there is the standard battery rental charge of €65 including VAT in
all sale&care markets. In view of the low operating costs electric
driving is therefore a very attractive form of individual mobility.
National promotion programmes in many countries and various mobility
benefits such as the use of special lanes or exemption from city
congestion charges are further advantages of electric driving. With the
attractive sale&care package and the significant technological
advancement of the smart fortwo electric drive smart offers its
customers affordable driving pleasure in daily use based on the
environmentally friendly drive.
smart also has an attractive offer for customers who want to buy or
lease the complete vehicle with the battery: including VAT the new smart
fortwo electric drive costs €23,680 as a coupé and €26,770 as a cabrio.
Since the International Motor Show in Frankfurt anyone interested has
been able to register on www.smart.com with no obligation to receive all
the latest news on the new electric smart. In some markets, including
Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK customers have been able to
make advance reservations for a vehicle online - and these customers
will be among the first owners of the new smart fortwo electric drive. A
four-figure number of reservations has already been received - and a
five-figure number of people have even registered on the smart website.
Fill up on renewable energies
Electric vehicles cut down greenhouse gases on a sustained basis,
especially when they are powered by renewably generated electricity.
This is why the company is supplying as much additional energy generated
by wind power to the German grid as is needed to run all new electric
smarts sold in Germany - thus supporting the ambitious climate targets
of the EU. The energy needed for this is supplied by a new wind power
plant on the A9 motorway, which Daimler has acquired in order to supply
additional power generated from a completely renewable source to the
grid on time for the launch of the new electric smart. Within the
framework of this initiative Daimler is deliberately not taking up
support measures from the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).
With nominal output of 2.3 megawatts per year the onshore wind energy
plant type Enercon E82 will generate enough green electricity to run the
approximately 2,500 smart fortwo electric drives initially sold in
Germany. Any power required over and above this could also be covered
with electricity from wind power, without EEG funding.
A fresh green and even more colours
With a larger radiator grille featuring the electric drive logo, stylish
LED daytime driving lights below the headlamps, wider door sills and
several modifications to the rear the new model is much more dynamic
than its predecessor. The new E-smart comes in all smart colours and
colour combinations that are also available for the diesel and petrol
models.
The new colour fresh green is a particularly visible manifestation of
electric driving fun. The electric drive design package comprises
crystal white bodypanels and white alloy rims, tridion cell and mirror
caps painted in electric green and numerous green accents in the
interior, which form an attractive contrast to the black seats.
Those looking to give their vehicle an even more exclusive touch can
choose from the range of options offered by smart BRABUS tailor made -
with an even greater choice of colours and materials.
Perfectly equipped
As to be expected the new smart fortwo electric drive features extensive
equipment. A highlight is the fully automatic air conditioning with
pollen filter and pre-entry climate control. When it is connected to the
power supply the vehicle can be automatically pre-cooled or pre-heated
as required for a programmed departure time. A new feature is the
possibility to start the pre-entry climate control via the internet or a
smartphone at any time. The standard equipment furthermore includes
electric windows, a leather steering wheel, leather gear knob, the audio
system basic, power steering, 9-spoke alloy wheels and a luggage
compartment cover. In addition to the standard solid roof, a glass roof
and a cabrio version are available. The trip computer - also a standard
feature in the electric smart - shows journey information including the
remaining range. And like the predecessor model the two round
instruments show the battery state-of-charge and the energy used and
recuperated. In addition, the smart fortwo electric drive can be
equipped with a navigation system and a 3-spoke leather steering wheel.
Clever app for infotainment with smartphones
smart is the first car brand to develop its own drive app for the
iPhone®. Together with the smart kit and cradle for the iPhone® the cult
phone becomes a multimedia trip computer that is optimised for the
smart fortwo in terms of function and design. The smart drive app for
the iPhone has all the important features needed whilst driving: phone
calls via hands-free system, your own extensive music collection,
internet radio and a clever navigation system with a special smart
touch. There are also smart extras - for example the Car Finder that
will guide you back to wherever you parked your car.
The new smart drive app for the iPhone is simple to operate, for example
thanks to extra-large buttons. The new app therefore makes urban
mobility even easier and more fun - the declared objective of the smart
philosophy.
Two new elements developed by smart make the two-seater car and the iPhone a perfect team:
The smart cradle for the iPhone with control unit and microphone
serves as a stylish and functional holder. It charges the iPhone and
also functions as a hands-free system using the loudspeakers of the
smart radio for sound output and automatically muting it when phone
calls are made
The smart drive app for the iPhone is the world's first drive app on
the market to be developed by a car brand. It combines all the features
needed on the road in a single app. All the functions are extremely
easy to use thanks to extra-large buttons and extra-large letters
Always know how far you can go: connected services
The smart drive app for the iPhone can be supplemented with further
functions tailored to the smart fortwo electric drive. However, the
current state-of-charge or the SmartCharging charge configuration can
also be conveniently controlled and managed via a web portal from a home
computer or with any modern smartphone.
The Vehicle Homepage offers every smart fortwo electric drive customer a
chance to visualise the range on an interactive map with 3D views.
All the destinations that can be reached with the current battery charge
are displayed. The public charging stations within reach can also be
seen at a glance. If a desired destination is further away than the
available range the Vehicle Homepage can be used to quickly check how
long the battery still needs to be charged for to reach it. Among other
factors, the depiction of the range considers the topography and the
route profile. The intuitive graphic depiction that can be combined with
3D views and satellite images is an attractive feature. Furthermore,
the vehicle itself can also become active: information on the charge
status and range can be sent by email or Twitter messages for example.
The driver is notified as soon as the desired range can be reached with
the current charge.
Intelligent charging
The smart fortwo electric drive can be connected to the internet at home
via a standard powerline adapter (Homeplug AV) for SmartCharging. After
entering the planned departure time in the vehicle or the web portal
the vehicle will be fully charged in a battery-saving and economical
way. The smart fortwo electric drive also makes charging at public
stations easy. With Plug&Charge the vehicle identifies itself as
soon as it is plugged into a compatible charging point and the charging
process is settled automatically.
"Electric history at smart"
With the start of the first electrically driven test fleet in 2007 in
London smart also took on a pioneering role in the area of electric
mobility when 100 smart fortwo electric drives took to the roads of the
British capital - with great success.
With the introduction of the second generation in 2009 the smart fortwo
electric drive was ready to take to the roads. The electrically driven
avant-gardiste from Stuttgart was introduced in 18 markets. The
objective was to gather as much experience as possible about how
customers use and charge electric vehicles. The huge demand exceeded all
expectations. Instead of the planned 1000 vehicles more than 2000 smart
fortwo electric drives were produced in Hambach. This means that smart
has one of the largest fleets of electrically driven vehicles on the
roads worldwide and a trove of customer experience and wishes that have
been input in the new smart fortwo electric drive.
A higher top speed and better acceleration at speeds above 60 km/h were
right at the top of the customers' list of priorities. However, contrary
to prevailing opinion the range wasn't the crucial point from the
perspective of the test customers. The vast majority of users confirmed
the results of surveys which say that people drive approximately 30 to
40 kilometres per day on average in urban areas and they expressed great
satisfaction with the range of their smart.
Technical specifications
Electric motor: Magneto-electric synchronous motor from EM-motive
Continuous output: 35 kW
Maximum output: 55 kW
Max. torque: 130 Nm
Battery: Lithium-ion battery from Deutsche ACCUmotive
Battery capacity: 17.6 kWh
Maximum speed: > 120 km/h
Acceleration
0-60 km/h: 4.8 s
0-100 km/h: 11.5 s
Range (NEDC): 145 km
Charging time (0-100%)
domestic socket: 7h (without wallbox), 6h (with wallbox)
400V: Less than 1h
